'Red flags' arise in possible Posey Co. fertilizer plant

More details are coming in about a fertilizer plant that could be coming to Posey County.

A report in the Washington Times claims fertilizer made by the parent company of the proposed plant has been used by terrorists to build homemade bombs.

A red flag. That's what a Mt. Vernon Councilman is calling that Washington Times article. The councilman tells 14 News he's heard a lot of benefits about the fertilizer plant coming to town, but that this article certainly raises some concerns.

Mt. Vernon Councilman Bill Curtis is hopeful about Midwest Fertilizer Corporation and the economic impact it can have on Posey County.

300 plus jobs for local people, $58,000 average wage. So all of those things would be really great for the community," Curtis said.

But now, Curtis has some questions.

State documents say Midwest Fertilizer is a subsidiary of the Fatima Group, a company based in Pakistan.

Fatima Group is coming under fire in that recent article in the Washington Times.

"I think we definitely need some answers to that," Curtis said.

The article said, "calcium ammonia nitrate" made by Fatima is used to make bombs in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but he hasn't ruled out Midwest Fertilizer just yet.

"I think we need to stay open, to look at it and not just take one article or two. Although, they are certainly red flags," Curtis told 14 News.

Those red flags led us to John Taylor, the Executive Director for Posey County's Economic Development Partnership.

For weeks we've put in calls to Taylor, he's had the same answer and that message didn't change on Tuesday.

"The project is not completed. We can't talk about a deal that is still in the works," Taylor said.

When 14 News asked him whether or not they're aware of some of these things about the Pakistani fertilizer plant, Taylor said, "Yes, we are, and we're dealing with all that."

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation sent us this statement: "As soon as the Indiana Economic
Development Corporation became aware that the U.S. Department of Defense had an
issue with Fatima Group's level of cooperation, we suspended support for the
project until further investigation.

14 News has been told that State Representatives Wendy McNamara and Tom Washburne were in session Tuesday, along with Senator Jim Tomes.

Tomes' press secretary has confirmed, though, that he's put a call in at the federal level about this issue.